Spain’s biggest TV stations hold merger talks, shares soar

Antena 3 de Television SA, Gestevision Telecinco SA, owners of Spain’s biggest private television broadcasters, said today they’re in talks to merge with smaller rivals, sending their shares soaring. Antena 3 is in discussions with companies including La Sexta, the Madrid-based broadcaster said today in a regulatory filing. Telecinco, controlled by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s MediaSet SpA, and media group Promotora de Informaciones, or Prisa, said in separate statements that they are in talks with each other. Spain passed legislation this year to allow mergers in the television industry as the worst recession in six decades and increased competition from digital channels eroded broadcasters’ profits. Earnings of both Antena 3 and Telecinco fell more than 70 per cent in the first nine months of 2009.